BACTERIA AND FUNGI, AND GRAPES, OH MY
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Upcoming Fall Fruit Workshop
See web page https://leereich.com/workshops for details.
The River Runs Green
Crossing the bridge over the Wallkill River on my way home, I glance to my right to admire the river itself. What a beautiful color it has turned, a bright turquoise. Ponds I pass also have taken on this bright complexion, for which we can thank, or curse, organisms known as blue-green algae (heretofore referred to as BGA).
Algae, they are not, though. BGA are bacteria known as cyanobacteria. “Algae” generally refers to eukaryotes, organisms with distinct nucleii and…
DRY WOOD, & AUTUMNAL AIR
Passionflower to the Rescue When I began, many years ago, to heat my home with wood, I struggled to get the driest possible wood, finally building a 60-foot long woodshed beneath which a double row of logs basked in the direct hit of sunlight from the south. I more recently learned that firewood can be too dry, which is when moisture drops below 15 to 20 percent. Bone dry wood can’t get enough oxygen for a clean, efficient burn, so smoke, within which is locked the potential for rendering additional heat, is produced; pump enough oxygen into the mix, though, and you get an inferno that…
UNPERMACULTURE
Accusations, (Mostly) not TrueI’ve understandably been accused of being a “permie,” that is, of practicing permaculture. (In the words of permaculture founder, Bill Mollison, “Permaculture is about designing sustainable human settlements. It is a philosophy and an approach to land use which weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management, and human needs into intricately connected, productive communities.” In the words of www.dictionary.com, permaculture is “a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture…
PROXIMAL THOUGHTS, PROXIMAL ACTION
I realize the laziness of humans, including myself, and dig lines for more convenient watering; gardens are already situated sufficiently close to save a few steps. And celeriac, what's going on? Grow!
A VERY GOOD YEAR, SO FAR
All is good: Mexican bean beetles cease to be a problem, corn soars higher than 10 feet, and, as usual, blueberry bushes bear awesome quantities of delectable berries.
ROT AND FLOWERS
Juicy plums just about ready to pick and then . . . yecchhh, brown rot srikes again. Shift gears, plants flowers. Will they help against brown rot?
PESTS, INCLUDING ME(?)
I watch out for pests: thousand canker disease of black walnut, chipmunks (not a pest for me), and me (not a pest for strawberries, although it might appear so)
GOOD FRUITS, ONE A VEGETABLE
World's Best Fruit? Finally, I reap the fruits of one of my labors. Literally. The fruit is black mulberry, the species, that is Morus nigra, rather than any of the black-colored mulberries that grow all over the place around here. The latter are species and natural hybrids of white and red mulberries (M. alba and M. rubra). Black mulberry, native to the Mediterranean climate of western Asia, is not cold-hardy below temperatures in the ‘teens (Fahrenheit) so definitely not cold-hardy here. I first tasted it at a fruit conference in Davis, California and it wowed me even from among…
